ORLANDO – It had been a frustrating 11 days since the Orlando Magic returned to their home stadium, the Kia Center.

They had lost five games since their last game here and lost top scorer Paolo Banchero. Outside of the All-Star forward, the Magic stumbled with slow starts and lapses in focus, consistently playing from behind.

The Magic changed that scenario by beating the New Orleans Pelicans 115-88 on Friday night. Orlando is 3-0 at home and 4-6 overall.

“It was great for our guys to find a rhythm defensively, knowing exactly what we wanted to do, how we wanted to play,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We hang hats on that side of the floor.”

In the first of the five-game series, Magic attacked the New Orleans Pelicans by scoring 37 points in the first quarter and increased the difference to 24 points with 5 minutes left before halftime.

Then the Magic’s half-court offense lost its way and lost most of its lead. The difference was five points with 3:36 left in the third quarter. Like last week, the Magic appeared to be losing control of the moment.

Not tonight. The Orlando defense, which was the team’s best offense tonight, found its footing and the Magic regained control of the game.

Orlando’s best offense was its defense, forcing turnovers and avoiding positions where the Pelican missed. Magic scored 23 points on fast breaks and got to the basket with surprising efficiency. Their 74 points in the paint were four shy of Orlando’s franchise record since the statistic was first tracked during the 1996-97 season.

“I thought we did a good job of establishing presence in the paint early,” guard Anthony Black said. “It all starts with us getting to the rim. From there, we make plays.”

For a team with such a forward-looking shooting effort (8-of-32 on 3-pointers), the formula right now is: Focus on defense. Take advantage of the opportunities offered.

That’s what the best version of the Magic team can do, given the circumstances they’re facing. Orlando has to use its aggression (something Mosley correctly judged he had not done in previous games) to step up his efforts. The Magic reaped all the fruits of their labor tonight.

Franz Wagner led Orlando with 27 points, followed by his brother Mo (17 points), Goga Bitadze (11), Black (11) and Jonathan Isaac (10 points). Magic’s second team defeated the New Orleans bench 56-18.

The Pelicans, devastated by injuries, were missing four of their top five scorers. But with the Magic missing Banchero (right oblique tear) and Wendell Carter Jr. (left foot plantar fasciitis) again for games five and three, respectively, they can only play the opponent in front of them.

While it wasn’t the full 48 minutes Orlando was looking for, it was enough to help stave off the bad taste of a bad trip. Magic is well aware that this farm is full of opportunities to get back on track.

So far they are 1 on 1.

The Magic return to action on Sunday night, hosting the Washington Wizards for their second game of a five-game homestand. Tip-off is set for 6pm ET at Kia Center.

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